Associated emblematically with François Furet, the dominant historical interpretation of 1789 expressed in 1989 asserted, against an alleged Marxist orthodoxy, that control of politics through language was the overriding driver – and the fundamental problem – of revolutionary processes. Twenty-one years later, has such a view ‘come of age’ by standing the test of time, or is it challenged, undermined, or indeed overtaken by newer (or older) ways of seeing the conflict and crisis of late eighteenth-century France?

Even more fundamentally, in 1989 the historiographical conflict over the Revolution took place within a cultural and historical frame that continued to acknowledge the events of 1789 as of world-historical significance: a significance seemingly reinforced, though in unpredicted ways, by the upheavals of 1989 itself in Europe. Can we still claim that the French Revolution has resonances in the present, and if we can, are those echoes the old ones of social structure and political control, or newer ideas of cultural influence?

To debate these issues, the University of Portsmouth is hosting an international conference on 5-6 July 2010. Proposals for papers (20-25 minute duration) are invited on any aspect of the origins, antecedents, precursors, events, processes, structures, proponents, opponents, outcomes and heritages of the French Revolution. Interdisciplinary studies and reflections are particularly welcome. A broad range of individual perspectives is sought, but presenters are also encouraged to respond to the larger issues raised above, particularly through contextualising individual research projects.

Please send abstracts of proposed papers (250 words) and a brief CV (2 pages max.) to david.andress@port.ac.uk
The closing date for this call is 1 October 2009.

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